Brooke Weston

News Item

Manga reading group visits Expo

Thursday 29th October 2009 by C. Freeman

Students got the chance to see former Dr Who, Tom Baker, and Red Dwarf star, Craig Charles, during a visit to the London MCM Expo. The event, which was devoted to manga, comic book and movie genres, attracted a large audience, many of whom dressed as their favourite manga or film characters.

Leading publishers, such as Tokyopop and Shonen Jump had stands at the show and there were also displays by individual manga artists, as well as souvenir stalls. A group of 14 students from Years 8, 10, 11 and 12 were accompanied by Mr Procter and Librarian Ms Adams, who had organised the trip.

She said: 'Most of them dressed up as characters from manga and they faithfully recreated these characters. The first thing that struck you was that the Expo was full of people, 90 per cent of whom were dressed up as well. My jaw was absolutely dropping. There were all these characters just milling about. It was very friendly and a really nice atmosphere.'

The event, which took place at ExCel in Canary Wharf, also featured cast members like Daleks and Darth Maul from Doctor Who as well as hordes of Star Trek and Matrix fans.

The Brooke Weston students are all members of the manga reading group who meet up each Wednesday during tutor time. Later this term manga artist Nana Li is coming to Brooke Weston to take an assembly and work with the reading group and some of the Year 8 students. She has just had her first novel, an adaptation of Twelfth Night published, and will tell the students how she designs her graphic characters.

Ms Adams said: 'The visit to the Expo was a really fun way for our students to meet others who have similar interests and see what is new in the world of manga. It will be a great starting point for our visit from Miss Li later this term.'